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Senate primary in Colorado illustrates battle for direction of Republican Party
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Bennet has the support of Obama and the Democratic establishment, but has been challenged by Andrew Romanoff, Colorado's former Democratic House speaker, who has the backing of former president Bill Clinton. Bennet in favored to win the primary, which has also turned negative.
Republicans are now weighing their choices. Lu Busse, a leader of the 9/12 movement in Colorado, a cousin to the tea party, said the issue differences between Buck and Norton are "not as clear cut" as some have suggested. But she said some activists question whether Norton "is tough enough to stand up to the Washington insiders and the people you've got to stand up to."
In a telephone interview, Norton sought to distance herself from the establishment.
"I just think it's a political trick that my opponent has laid on me because the anti-establishment sentiment is really strong," she said. "Anything having to do with Washington is a negative right now."
Buck, meanwhile, tried to play down his association with the tea party movement. "I wasn't drafted by the tea party," he said. "I started about the same time that the tea party was rockin' and rollin'. . . . So I think my candidacy and the evolution of the tea party were parallel events."
But he made clear that he sees his mission is to shake up both parties in Washington:
"There is a conservative movement within the Republican Party that distinguishes a lot of us, and we recognize that Republicans are a big part of the problem. . . . I don't have any deep friends in Washington now, and in six years I won't have any friends."
